Karaoke Forums

Well I saw on facebook today that my old venue is starting up karaoke again. Didn't contact me. Advertising for Thursday night. The kicker,,,,, here is what they are advertising on facebook---

Karaoke is back!! This Thursday 9-1...Over 100,000 karaoke songs choices!!


I told the owner last year the whole story of this. Would think he would know. Probably got someone for $75. That's seriously what he wanted me to work for. Good luck to him.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Sorry Rip! But lets see how long this guy lasts. You may have your gig back in the end.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Update. I privately messaged the co-owner (the wife and she is the one that posted it) and warned her once again. This was her response.


""We already pay an annual fee to a musicians guild called SESAC for rights to use copy-written material. It covers "live amplitude of the human voice" and includes karaoke and cover bands...So, we should be ok. Thanks for the heads up, though. ""

I believe the owner put his own cheap outfit together (he always tries to buy the cheapest stuff and save a buck) and they plan on running it themselves. You know, the old $8 or 9 bucks an hour thing.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I had a similar situation a few years ago, when I was just starting out as a host. I had this show at a bar that was really a fun place to do. They moved into a new building (remodeled) which gave them a really nice dance floor and small stage. I hosted at the new place for several weeks, and had some really great success. The last night I was there, we had 63 people in the place, which actually was the slowest night that I had there. Some nights were over a hundred. The place wasn't big by any means, only seated about a hundred +. Great kitchen and pretty good wait staff. Well, the last week I was there was the week before Easter weekend, and I called the boss, and he said that he wanted to postpone karaoke for the week, because he thought the place would be dead anyway. I agreed. Just after Easter on Monday or Tuesday, he calls me up and tells me he wants to cancel karaoke for the entire summer, because he didn't want to pay anyone for their slow time. He was supposed to call me back in august or September and re-schedule, but never did. I found out later that he went out and purchase his own karaoke equipment and a few discs, and hired this gal to host. Paid her 35 bucks per night. I had a friend who went there occasionally and he tole me they had nights of only 4 people!!! That tells me how powerful our services can be. This place never really regained any real business, and is still open, but really struggles to get any customers to stick around. I doubt very much he pays any dues at all, and will eventually get caught.

Rip, I agree with Babs, this owner you are talking about will pay for it dearly in the end. Just wait for him/her to call you and "rescue" them. When that happens, make sure you get everything you deserve.

SESAC alone isn't adequate licensing for even a DJ.. since a blanket SESAC license only covers the artists they represent. They'd also need licensing from ASCAP and BMI to truly have all their bases covered.. and that still wouldn't have anything to do with publicly displaying the SoundChoice, Chartbuster, etc logos.

Sounds like another case of a venue buying a loaded hard drive and replacing a KJ with some college kid to operate the house rig for $10 an hour instead of paying a real KJ $175 a night.

I hope you get the happy ending of getting that "rescue" call but I have seen them just keep going down into oblivion because they won't pay more than $75 for karaoke and now that it has gone downhll they won't pay even that or else they have now decided it doesn't work anymore at all. It is very frustrating bcause from what you have described and from other events that have hired you, you do "put on a better show." Guess it is just a matter of continuing on and finding the place that "gets it."

mrscott you are right. And similar situations. He told me last time I saw him, "if we need karaoke again, we will call you. This is also the same owner that fought to not let me host at another bar on another night. He plays games. He's not the straight shooter he tried to get me to believe he was.

cheese, you are correct of course. I'm sure whoever sold them the hard drive (of course I'm assuming a loaded hard drive since they have 100,000 songs) told them they were legal.

They've got nothing to gain, I know it, I'm sure you all know it, but if he can save a buck and there's a chance (fat chance) they can bring a crowd back on Thursday nights, it's worth that chance to him.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Leopard, I won't go back. Owner isn't a straight shooter, I don't need the gig that bad. That's the way it is. It's business but with all the games he has played in the past, it's become personal. He's flat out lied to me, telling me one thing then doing a 360, attempted to get me not to work elsewhere on off nights (threatening to fire me cuz first I was his act only and then saying no, it's cuz he didn't want that venue's clientele to follow me to his bar), told me not to ever take a night off again (told him I had a charity event one Thursday night and HIS suggestion was to do karaoke that Friday) and used my lights and fog on other nights (had to store my equipment there at the time and a friend who had helped me with karaoke walked in one night and saw it).

We're done! Just frustrates me because I spent a half hour one night while setting up explaining to him the dangers of using a loaded drive and not having the cdgs to back them up. Done venting. If SC or others want to go after him, that's their choice.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Understood. Sometimes it is good to realize you couldn't fix it or help it and move on.

ASCAP/BMI/SESAC license fees also do not protect the owner if he is pirating music for his DJs to play. If he bought a hard drive with 100k MP3+G tracks, he probably also got a bunch of pirated dance music.

Not that anyone will do anything about it. This is the situation in my town as well. I'm glad I cut back on karaoke and branched out to other things.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

What about ASCAP and BMI? SESAC is only one of three PRO's in the States. If they're using music by ASCAP and BMI artists while not paying they royalties to those orgs, then they do NOT have permission to play that music.

On top of that, if they're using pirated music, then THIS songwriter considers them no more than a two bit thief. I'd appreciate if you'd pm their details to me so I can report them to the appropriate agencies.

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Dave's not here.

Please move this to the pirate cove.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Ok update to the story.

They hired the pirates that I used to visit and sing at their show. They bragged 2 years ago that they had 100,000 songs. Their songbooks were pathetic. 2 or 3 on one long table. Duplicates listed, artist names all screwed up. Tom Petty, Petty Tom, Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, blah blah blah.

They had crappy equipment then, they have it now. My DJ friend went to the show Thursday. Said they still use vocopro mics, peavys (one was blown) no subs and the lyrics were dragging. I can't believe they hired them for less than me. I can't believe they felt this crook had a better sound than me. They have NO personality "all right, nice job, I need Steve to the stage". You can count on that announcement EVERY time. SO why did he hire them? Had to be the 100,000 song allure. They even advertise it on their website.

Check out this link where it says "Additional Information"

http://www.localsearch.com/detail/TZeer ... 57018.html

Very frustrating!

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I feel for ya Rip,,,Just last night I stopped into the old venue I had years ago. The one I had mentioned that put me on hold for a summer and never called me back. Well, they DID buy their own system,, a CAVS with 3 legal Nutech Super cdg's.. thats it.. a total of 3367 songs or so. They pay this gal, ( spoke to her last night) about 35 bucks per night to "host"... Well I gotta tell ya,, there was NOBODY in that room last night, they get what they paid for!! But at least they don't have to pay me for filling up the room. I counted the chairs in the karaoke part of the bar. There was 64 chairs.. The last night I was there was my slowest night.. and I had 63 people.. hmmm,,, filled bar = profits.. but no real host = no costs,,hmm,, but also means no sales. MORON!!!! He is getting his paybacks now,, just as your former venue will get theirs.

rip, they only saw he was cheap. they seem to be the type of owners that cant see past the price to get to the cost. as far as they are concerned, karaoke is karaoke. you dont seem to have lost anything but stress by not being there. try to relax a bit and let them self destruct, then you can sit back and chuckle to yourself.

the owner sounded like a douche before, and apparently has not changed.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Thanks.

I'm sure they didn't pay them less than me. I think they liked the hundred grand thing. They won't last long. I doubt they will have the kahonas to ask me back and I wouldn't anyway at this point.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I have the same super cdgs and am pulling them as soon as I get my GEM set.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Think you guys are missing something here.
In even the last three months the recession is hitting harder than ever.
The bars that are getting no one in are not trying to go cheap.
They are desperate and may not last much longer.
They are frightened and don't really know what to do.

I don't really think it is a reflection on you.
You are caught up in a money machine that stopped working.

It's going to get worse.

Sorry... Don't take this the wrong way...
Right now is the best time for us that SC could be filling suit.

My 2 pennies.

Gppd point Jerry. However this particular owner is so tight he's oversprung! They have live bands on Saturdays and sometimes get big crowds. On one such occasion I went to see the band cuz the lead singer would often come to my shows and get the crowd fired up. The place was so packed that when I rode up on my bike outside, just b4 they were to take the stage that I couldn't get thru the crowd on the sidewalk outside. While I was watching the band (gawd they needed a sound guy bad!) the owner approached me and said "I don't mean this in the wrong way but I pay you more than I paid them".

He was constantly buying cheap lights that would work a couple times and then die. He tried making his own fog, finally gave up and started buying from me. Of course a business person needs to be frugal but he took it to a new level.

Which is what baffles me. I don't believe that these guys would take the gig for less than the $125 I was getting. This is a Thursday night gig. TZeer is a multi rig.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I'll be living in Toronto within the year anyway, then I can make some real money.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Follow up:

Only did karaoke once or twice, gave it up. Found out two weeks ago that the owner is pulling up stakes and opening a bar that has been closed and sold several times in the last few years. The kicker,,,, this bar is in the small town where I work. Could be interesting!

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]